‘That’s what the body tells us,’ Kay replied. ‘And bodies don’t lie.’ Her proud eyes darted to Dr. Hove for an instant. ‘Bodies don’t lie’ was Dr. Hove’s catchphrase.
‘Those fractures also indicate something else,’ Dr. Hove added.
Hunter and Garcia turned to face her.
‘The spiral fractures in both of his arms run counterclockwise,’ the doctor explained. ‘If the perpetrator used his hands to cause those fractures—’
‘It means that he’s left-handed,’ Hunter said.
Dr. Hove and Kay both nodded.
‘If the perpetrator used his hands to cause those fractures,’ Garcia added, ‘it means that he’s one strong motherfucker. Mr. Wilford here wasn’t exactly frail.’
‘That too,’ Kay agreed. ‘But we’re not done yet. There’s more.’ She directed everyone back to the body on the examination table. ‘Let me start with the eyes.’
Hunter and Garcia repositioned themselves by the head of the table.
‘Have a look at this,’ Kay said, as she used the tips of her fingers to pull down the body’s right-lower eyelid. ‘See this odd discoloration right at the edge of the eyelid?’
Both detectives got closer for a better look.
‘Uh-hum,’ Garcia nodded.
‘It repeats itself on the other eye.’ Kay showed them. ‘But the mark pattern is different, as you can see.’
‘OK.’
‘That’s not post-mortem discoloration,’ Kay explained.
‘OK, so what are they?’ Garcia asked.
Kay took a second, as if she needed to prepare herself for the answer. ‘Those are chemical burn marks.’
Garcia’s jaw tightened. ‘Hold on. Are you saying that someone used some kind of acidic chemical as eye drops on him?’
Kay peeked at Dr. Hove before responding. ‘That’s what it looks like, but to know exactly what caused those burns, we would need to biopsy some of the eyelid tissue. Right now, all we can offer is an educated guess.’
Both detectives questioned with a look.
‘Definitely not something as strong as acid. That would’ve blinded him straight away. Our best guess is that whoever did this used something a little milder… something like diluted toilet bleach, or diluted methanol, or some kind of softdetergent – something that would’ve caused considerable pain, but not blindness.’
Hunter looked at Dr. Hove, who nodded.
‘Still, there’s more.’ Kay then guided their attention to the body’s feet. ‘Here.’ She used both hands to spread the subject’s big toe from the pointer one. ‘See this mark?’
Two seconds of silence.
‘Another burn mark.’ Hunter didn’t phrase it as a question.
‘Yes, but not acidic this time.’
Hunter had seen similar marks a few times before. Despite the after-death deterioration of the skin, he was still able to identify it.
‘Cigarette burns,’ he said.
Once again, Kay looked impressed. ‘Very good. And due to the not-exactly-circular pattern of the mark, I’d say that he was burned repeatedly over the same spot.’
Garcia cringed.
